Public Service Announcement: Golden Gate Bakery is NOT open.

In case you were planning to spend part of Christmas vacation lining up for an egg tart, forget about it. In what should be one of their busiest weeks of the year, Golden Gate Bakery is still on "vacation."

Walked by Golden Gate Bakery today and was greeted by the strange sight of a line in front of the ostensibly closed premises. Turns out they were selling baked-to-order egg tarts by the dozen out the door to anyone who cared to wait in line. There was no posted notice, the place was dark inside and the "Closed For Vacation" sign still on the door. Every few minutes they would open the door and deliver another couple of boxes to customers waiting, money in hand.

I asked a couple of women in line how they had heard about the sale, and they told me they just happened to walk by, saw the line, and joined in.

Each time I've seen their "on vacation" sign (~4 times), the inside of the store was left chaotically enough to make me wonder if they'd ever return. With this in mind, I was so taken aback to hear someone actually answer the phone that I didn't have a chance to ask.

Yes I think Golden Gate Bakery is the consensus best. Interestingly when I went by yesterday there were lines from both directions into the bakery. As I recall there's usually a single line going south, but this time the larger arm was going north. I wonder if any incidents resulted.

They were open sometime before July 8th. My sister was visiting and after she left on that day, I saw one of their bags in the trash.

Personally, I am not a fan of GGB's don tok, although I can see why many might prefer them. The egg custard is very eggy and the crust very flaky. I grew up on Eastern Bakery's version in which the egg custard is sweeter and the crust more pie-like. I don't particularly like custard, so it stands to reason I would like a sweeter, less custardy version. As I understand it the two bakeries are related in some way. Only other place I have had any recently would be Good Luck Dim Sum, which I remember liking.

Amazingly, even without line monitors, the line seems to know to form itself into a "U", so only one line into the store. Most likely due to the western(ized) customer demographics. That's definitely not a bad thing.

Folks - there are the european alternatives:The ancestor of the dan tat, Pastel de Nata, at Silva Bakery in Hayward: 18563 Mission Boulevard, (510) 278-3322, off of Highway 238. Much denser, more cream in the custard, burnt edges on purpose, lemony and fabulous.The custard tart at John Cambell's Irish Bakery in San Francisco, 5625 Geary @ 21st Ave, 415-379-9965. Again, a denser more western custard.